To Market To Market

STUDENT'S VERSION

INTRODUCTION

This lesson will help you become good consumers (people who buy or use goods and services) and producers (people who make or sell goods and services). The price sellers are willing to take compared with the amount buyers are willing to pay is what makes a marketplace work. Today you'll work with your classmates to make a market and take turns buying and selling things. Some of you will be producers, people who sell things; and some of you will be consumers, people who buy them.

Use the flash cards from A+ Math to test your ability to add coins and see how much money you have. Don't forget to use the decimal point to show the difference between dollars and cents!

TASK

Today you will participate in a marketplace simulation. You will be role-playing producers and consumers throughout this simulation. After you role-play you will explain how prices affect people's willingness to buy things in markets.

PROCESS

Activity 1:
Work with your classmates or work by yourself to complete the activity The Market

Activity 2:
Work with your teacher and classmates to make a list of items for sale; also list the producers who will sell them. The rest of the class will be the consumers, or buyers. Take a few minutes to prepare for the marketplace activity by thinking about the following things:

Producers:
Set a price for your products.
Make signs showing the prices.

Consumers:
Count your money.
Make sheet which you may use to keep track of what you spend.

Activity 3:

To Market! Open the marketplace and allow time for all the consumers to make their purchases. Keep track of the purchases and sales using the data retrieval worksheet.

Producers:
Keep track of how many items you sell.
Add the amounts of money people pay you to keep a record.

Consumers:
Make a list of the things that you buy and the amount you spend on each item.
Add the total amount you spend.

If you are not ready to add two-digit numbers you can keep track by making a pictorial representation or circling the number of coins you spend in each denomination.

CONCLUSION

Think about how many things you sold, or how much money you spent on the things you bought.

Class Discussion:

All: What has to happen for a market to work? What does market mean?

Producers: If you were to do another round of the market activity, would you charge more or less for your items? Why? What do you think might happen if you put fewer items out on the table?

Consumers: If you were to do another round of the market activity, would you buy the same things? What if the prices were different? What would make you want to buy something you didn't choose today? What would make you want to pay a higher price for something?

ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY

Draw a picture of a marketplace, showing what happens when producers raise or lower their prices. Write a sentence about your picture.

EXTENSION ACTIVITY

These activities will help you practice calculations using money.

Money Flash Cards
. Use the flash cards from A+ Math to test your ability to add coins and see how much money you have. Don't forget to use the decimal point to show the difference between dollars and cents!

Funbrain
. Complete the activity at this site to test your ability to calculate change. You'll be given a price for something and the amount of money someone paid. You'll have to calculate the change the buyer should receive.